It is a common practice of owners of potted plants, in order to support vertically extending vines and stems, to force a support stick or rod into the potting soil adjacent the vine or stem and then tie the support stick to the vine or stem. Forcing the stick into the potting soil often results in accidental rupturing of the plant roots or blocking drain holes in the pot, either of which can be fatal to the plant.
Several attempts have been made to address these issues. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,592 (Saunders) discloses an extendable, rod-like plant support that projects downward through a central hole in a plant pot and fits into a receptacle defined in a specially provided reservoir dish onto which the planter is placed. This arrangement has limited use for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it functions only as part of a specially constructed pot having a central drain hole, and the position of the support rod is limited to the center of the pot.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,678 (Schweiker) shows a separate circular plate that can be selectively disposed in the bottom of any planter pot and is provided with a permanently attached upward projection adapted to receive a plant support rod. The plate is retained in position in the pot by the weight of the potting soil. This arrangement also suffers from providing for only one permissible position of the support rod, a limitation which limits the type and growth of plants with which the arrangement can be used. Moreover, relying on the weight of the soil to keep the plate in place does not protect against the entire unit falling out of the pot should the pot be tipped over on its side.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,058,934 (Yohe) describes a plant receptacle including a false bottom and one or more handles attached to the bottom. This structure suffers from several disadvantages. To repot the plant, a user must remove the false bottom from the receptacle and physically separate the plant from the bottom. Such a forcible separation damages the plant's root structure. In addition, handles are provided to permit a user to remove the false bottom from the receptacle, That is, a pair of handles is fixed to the false bottom; alternatively, a single handle is removably connected to the false bottom proximate its center. These configurations limit the type and growth of plants with which the receptacle can be used. The structure, moreover, relies on the weight of the soil to keep the false bottom in place; consequently, the false bottom is prone to falling out of the receptacle should the receptacle be tipped over on its side.
The present invention addresses these and further issues, while avoiding harm to plants that might occur during potting or transfer, as well as in a situation where the container tips over. The invention provides a plant supporting post with positional and length adjustability, as well as provides a base adapted to mate with containers (e.g., flowerpots and/or planters) of various dimensions and having various configurations. Specifically, it is a feature of the present invention to provide a base and supporting post arrangement wherein a plurality of receptacles is provided in the base to accommodate the supporting post in a respective plurality of transverse positions. In addition, instead of a single supporting post holding up a plant, flower, or other item placed into the container, the present invention permits multiple supporting posts to be utilized. The supporting post may be formed from interconnecting sections to support plant or flowers of virtually any height.